Base structure for air inflow in clothes dryer

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a clothes dryer, in which a base structure is improved for increasing an air flow rate introduced into the gas combustion device for improving a combustion efficiency and a cooling characteristics of components as well as reducing production of hazardous gas. For this, the present invention provides base structure in a clothes dryer, including a plurality of air holes  100  in a base ‘B’ in a front area of an inlet side of a mixing pipe, which clothes dryer has the base ‘B’ forming a bottom, a front cabinet ‘FC’ forming a front face, a side cabinet ‘SC’ forming a side, a back cover ‘BC’ forming a rear face, a top cover ‘TC’ mounted both on top of the front cabinet ‘FC’ and the side cabinet ‘SC’, screw type legs ‘L’ at respective corners of the base ‘B’, a mixing pipe  24  on the base ‘B’ forming a bottom for mixing gas sprayed from the gas nozzle  22  and primary air, a guide funnel  20  mounted on an outlet side of the mixing pipe  24,  a gas nozzle  22  mounted opposite to the inlet of the mixing pipe  24,  a valve  30  connected to the gas nozzle  22  for gas supply and control of the gas supply rate, and an igniter  26  in a fore end of the mixing pipe  24  for igniting a mixture gas.

[0001] This application claims the benefit of Korean Application(s) No.P2002-0055459 filed on Sep. 12, 2002, which is/are hereby incorporatedby reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] 1. Field of the Invention

[0003] The present invention relates to clothes dryers, and moreparticularly, to a base structure which can increase a flow rate of airintroduced into a drying drum.

[0004] 2. Discussion of the Related Art

[0005]FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view showing an exterior ofexemplary clothes dryer, wherein in general a body of the clothes dryeris provided with a base ‘B’ forming a bottom, a front cabinet FC forminga front face, a side cabinet SC forming a side, a back cover BC forminga rear face, and a top cover TC mounted on top of the front cabinet FCand the side cabinet SC.

[0006] There is a control panel CP in a rear part of the top cover TC.

[0007] Moreover, the front cabinet FC of the body of the clothes dryeris provided with an introduction opening for introduction/ taking out oflaundry, and a door ‘D’ for selective opening/closing of theintroduction opening.

[0008] Together with this, there are screw type legs ‘L’ at respectivecorners of the base ‘B’ for adjusting a height of the body.

[0009] In the meantime, FIG. 2 illustrates a disassembled perspectiveview showing an inside of a related art clothes dryer. As shown, thereis the drying drum 1 mounted in the body of the clothes dryer to berotatable upon receiving a driving force from the motor. The drying drum1 is cylindrical, with opened front and rear parts, and a belt groove 2in a middle part of an outside circumference for winding a belt (notshown) driving by a separate driving source thereon.

[0010] The drying drum 1 is provided with a drying chamber 5 therein forcarrying out drying, and a plurality of lifters 6 on an inside thereoffor lifting and dropping a drying object in the drying chamber 5 toupside down the drying object to improve a drying efficiency.

[0011] The drying drum 1 has a front supporter 7 and a rear supporter 9at opposite front and rear ends thereof. The front supporter 7 and therear supporter 9 close a front side and a rear side of the drying drum1, to form a drying chamber 5, and support the front end and the rearend of the drying drum 1.

[0012] There are sealing members 10 between the front supporter 7 andthe rotatable drying drum 1, and between the rear supporter 9 and therotatable drying drum 1, for prevention of leakage. Of course, the frontsupporter 7 and the rear supporter 9 are provided with a plurality ofrollers (not shown) at relevant positions of the front and rear parts ofthe drying drum 1 for supporting the drying drum 1.

[0013] In the meantime, the front supporter 7 has a through hole 8 formaking the drying chamber 5 and an outside of the drying chamber 5 incommunication. The through hole 8 is opened/closed with a door (notshown) selectively.

[0014] The rear supporter 9 has an inlet duct 12 mounted thereto incommunication with the drying chamber 5 for serving as a passage of thehot air to be supplied to the drying chamber 5.

[0015] The front supporter 7 has an outlet assembly 13, which is a partfor escaping of the air from the drying chamber 5, at one side thereofat a lower end of the through hole 8. The outlet assembly 13 has a lintfilter 14.

[0016] The lint filter 14 filters foreign matters (for an example,threads, or dust) from air escaping the drying chamber 5.

[0017] In the meantime, there is a lint duct 15 in communication withthe outlet assembly 13. The lint filter 14 is positioned even inside ofthe lint duct 15. There is a blower 17 connected to the lint duct 15 fordrawing air from the drying chamber 5 through the line duct 15. Theblower 17 is mounted in a blower housing 18.

[0018] The blower housing 18 has one side in communication with the lintduct 15, and the other side connected to an air discharge pipe 19.Therefore, the air escaped from the drying chamber 5 and passed throughthe lint duct 15 is discharged to an outside of the dryer through thedischarge pipe 19 by a blowing action of the blower 17.

[0019] In the meantime, there is a guide funnel 20 connected to an inletside of the inlet duct 12. The guide funnel 20 guides hot air producedby combustion of gas to the inlet side of the inlet duct.

[0020] There is a mixing pipe 24 on an inlet side of the guide funnel 20for mixing gas sprayed from a gas nozzle 22 and primary air.

[0021] An outlet of the mixing pipe 24 is positioned in a state spaced adistance inward from the inlet of the guide funnel 20.

[0022] The gas nozzle 22 is positioned opposite to the inlet of themixing pipe 24, and has a valve 30 for controlling supply and a supplyrate of the gas.

[0023] The valve 30 has a gas pipeline 23 connected thereto forcontinuous supply of the gas from a separate gas supply source.

[0024] According to this, the gas sprayed from the gas nozzle 22 and theexternal air introduced thereto through the inlet of the mixing pipe,i.e., primary air, are mixed in the mixing pipe 24.

[0025] There is an igniter 26 in a fore end of the mixing pipe 24 forigniting the mixing gas.

[0026] The operation of the related art clothes dryer will be described.

[0027] Upon introducing drying objects (for an example, laundry) intothe drying chamber 5 in the drying drum 1, closing the door, andpressing an operation button, the drying drum 1 rotates as the beltwound in the belt groove 2 is driven by a separate driving source.

[0028] When the blower 17 is driven, air is drawn from the dryingchamber 5 through the lint duct 15. In such as case, external air isintroduced into the drying chamber 5 through the inlet duct 12 owing toa pressure difference.

[0029] In this instance, the air supplied to the inlet duct 12 is heatedwith a gas combustion device to a relative high temperature beforeintroduction thereto.

[0030] That is, as the gas is sprayed into the mixing pipe 24 from thegas nozzle 22, and the primary air introduced into the inlet of themixing pipe 24 through fin like suction louvers in one area of the backcover BC, and the gas and the air are mixed to each other in the mixingpipe 24, and ignited with the igniter 26 initially at the outlet of themixing pipe 24, is the mixture gas burns.

[0031] In the meantime, there is secondary air introduced to a flameproduced as the mixture gas burns at the outlet of the mixing pipe 24,to produce hot air as a thermal energy generated when the gas burnsheats the air introduced into an inside of the guide funnel 20.

[0032] The hot air is introduced into the drying chamber 5 in the dryingdrum 1 through the inlet duct 12, for carrying out drying operation.

[0033] In the meantime, the hot air having moisture absorbed from thelaundry in the drying chamber 5 escapes the drying chamber 5 through theoutlet assembly 13. The escape of the air through the outlet assembly 13is made by a suction force of the blower 17. In this instance, dust andthread are filtered from the air escaping the outlet assembly 13 at thelint filter 14.

[0034] Then, the air passed through the lint filter 14 is discharged tothe outside of the dryer through an outlet opening 120 e in the backcover BC via the discharge pipe 19 by the blowing of the blower 17.

[0035] However, the related art clothes dryer has the followingproblems.

[0036] Since the air is drawn only through the fin like suction louvers120 a in one area of the back cover BC, the air flow rate can not beincreased anymore.

[0037] In this case, the combustion efficiency drops, and flames havepoor characteristics, or much hazardous gas is produced.

[0038] Particularly, in the related art, the flow rate of the primaryair into the mixing pipe 24 is liable to be short, as the air isintroduced through the suction louver 120 a in the back cover BCopposite to the inlet of the mixing pipe 24.

[0039] Moreover, in the related art, there has been a problem in thatthe shortage of the air flow rate into the system causes excessiveheating of components of the system.

[0040] Furthermore, the shortage of the air flow rate causes excessivehigh temperature of the hot air introduced into the drying drum 1,resulting in damage to the clothes.

[0041] For reference, FIG. 4 illustrates a front part of the related artbase, with which it can be known that there is no air introductionstructure in the related art base.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0042] An object of the present invention, devised to solve the relatedart problem, lies on providing an improved base structure for increasingan air flow rate introduced into the gas combustion device to improve acombustion efficiency and a cooling characteristics of components aswell as reduce production of hazardous gas.

[0043] To achieve the object of the present invention, there is provideda base structure in a clothes dryer including a plurality of air holesin a base in a front area of an inlet side of a mixing pipe; the clothesdryer having a base forming a bottom, a front cabinet forming a frontface, a side cabinet forming a side, a back cover forming a rear face, atop cover mounted both on top of the front cabinet and the side cabinet,screw type legs ‘L’ at respective corners of the base, a mixing pipe onthe base forming a bottom for mixing gas sprayed from the gas nozzle andprimary air, a guide funnel mounted on an outlet side of the mixingpipe, a gas nozzle mounted opposite to the inlet of the mixing pipe, avalve connected to the gas nozzle for gas supply and control of the gassupply rate, and an igniter in a fore end of the mixing pipe forigniting a mixture gas.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0044] The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide afurther understanding of the invention and are incorporated in andconstitute a part of this application, illustrate embodiment(s) of theinvention and together with the description serve to explain theprinciple of the invention. In the drawings:

[0045]FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view showing an exterior ofexemplary clothes dryer.

[0046]FIG. 2 illustrates a disassembled perspective view showing aninside of a related art clothes dryer.

[0047]FIG. 3 illustrates a side section showing key parts in the relatedart.

[0048]FIG. 4 illustrates a plan view of a front part of the base in FIG.3.

[0049]FIG. 5 illustrates a side section showing key parts of the presentinvention.

[0050]FIG. 6 illustrates a plan view of a front part of the base in FIG.5.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT(S)

[0051] Reference will now be made in detail to the preferredembodiment(s) of the present invention, examples of which areillustrated in the accompanying drawings. Throughout the drawings, likeelements are indicated using the same or similar reference designationswhere possible.

[0052] An embodiment of the present invention will be described indetail with reference to the attached drawings FIGS. 4 and 5.

[0053]FIG. 5 illustrates a side section showing key parts of the presentinvention, and FIG. 6 illustrates a plan view of a front part of thebase in FIG. 5, wherein a base structure in a clothes dryer includes aplurality of air holes 100 in a base ‘B’ in a front area of an inletside of a mixing pipe, which clothes dryer has the base ‘B’ forming abottom, a front cabinet ‘FC’ forming a front face, a side cabinet ‘SC’forming a side, a back cover ‘BC’ forming a rear face, a top cover ‘TC’mounted both on top of the front cabinet ‘FC’ and the side cabinet ‘SC’,screw type legs ‘L’ at respective corners of the base ‘B’, a mixing pipe24 on the base ‘B’ forming a bottom for mixing gas sprayed from the gasnozzle 22 and primary air, a guide funnel 20 mounted on an outlet sideof the mixing pipe 24, a gas nozzle 22 mounted opposite to the inlet ofthe mixing pipe 24, a valve 30 connected to the gas nozzle 22 for gassupply and control of the gas supply rate, and an igniter 26 in a foreend of the mixing pipe 24 for igniting a mixture gas.

[0054] The air holes 100 are formed at regular intervals along left andright directions of the base ‘B’.

[0055] Moreover, each of the air holes 100 has a form of a long hole ina front/rear direction of the base ‘B’.

[0056] The operation of the present invention will be described.

[0057] The clothes dryer of the present invention has air for burninggas for drying operation, introduced, not only through the fin likesuction louvers 120 a in one side area of the back cover BC, but alsothrough the plurality of air holes 100 in the base in the front area ofthe inlet side of the mixing pipe.

[0058] That is, as shown in FIG. 5, since the base ‘B’ is spaced from afloor with the legs ‘L’, the external air can be introduced through theair holes 100 in the base ‘B’ via a gap between the base ‘B’ and thefloor.

[0059] Accordingly, different from the related art, the clothes dryer ofthe present invention can secure an adequate flow rate, to enhance acombustion efficiency, improve flame characteristics, and reducegeneration of hazardous gas.

[0060] Particularly, different from the related art in which the air isintroduced only through the suction louvers 120 a in the back cover BCopposite to the inlet side of the mixing pipe 24, as the air isintroduced from the front area of the inlet side of the mixing pipe 24,the problem of the related art is solved, in which the flow rate of theprimary air to be introduced into the inlet of the mixing pipe 24 isliable to be short.

[0061] Along with this, since the flow rate of the external airintroduced into an inside of the system increases in the presentinvention, an effective cooling of the components of the system can bemade, and the problem of clothes damage caused by excessive hightemperature of the hot air introduced into the drying drum coming fromshortage of the air flow rate is also solved.

[0062] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that variousmodifications and variations can be made in the present inventionwithout departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Thus, it isintended that the present invention cover the modifications andvariations of this invention provided they come within the scope of theappended claims and their equivalents.

[0063] That is, though the air hole 100 has a form of a long hole in theforegoing embodiment, the form is not limited thereto, but there may bea variety of forms of the air holes.

[0064] Accordingly, the present invention has the following advantagesor effects.

[0065] As has been described, the present invention is related to aclothes dryer, in which a base structure is improved for increasing aflow rate of air introduced into a gas combustion device.

[0066] Accordingly, the present invention has effects of improving acombustion efficiency and cooling characteristics of components, andreducing production of hazardous gas, as well as preventing clothes frombeing damaged by excessive temperature rise of the hot air introducedinto the drying drum.

What is claimed is:
 1. A base structure in a clothes dryer comprising; aplurality of air holes in a base in a front area of an inlet side of amixing pipe, the clothes dryer having a base forming a bottom, a frontcabinet forming a front face, a side cabinet forming a side, a backcover forming a rear face, a top cover mounted both on top of the frontcabinet and the side cabinet, screw type legs ‘L’ at respective cornersof the base, a mixing pipe on the base forming a bottom for mixing gassprayed from the gas nozzle and primary air, a guide funnel mounted onan outlet side of the mixing pipe, a gas nozzle mounted opposite to theinlet of the mixing pipe, a valve connected to the gas nozzle for gassupply and control of the gas supply rate, and an igniter in a fore endof the mixing pipe for igniting a mixture gas.
 2. The base structure asclaimed in claim 1, wherein the plurality of air holes are formed atregular intervals along left/right directions of the base.
 3. The basestructure as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein each of the air holes isformed in a long hole form having a length in a front/rear direction ofthe base.